‘Sellers’ market’: Winnipeg home prices, number of sales jump in 2024

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This article was published 09/01/2025 (317 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg experienced, amid declining interest rates, a spike in year-over-year home sales and prices in 2024. Meanwhile, apartment rents continued to increase amid a lack of availability.

The Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board tracked more than $5.5 billion in sales in 2024 — a 20 per cent increase from 2023.

Nearly 14,600 sales occurred in Winnipeg and its surrounding regions — a 13 per cent jump from the year prior.

“More and more buyers have come out in the marketplace, which is driving activity up,” said Daphne Shepherd, Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board president.

She pointed to the Bank of Canada’s recent interest rate cuts. The central bank dropped its key policy rate 1.75 percentage points last year.

Immigration contributed to Winnipeg’s home sales increase, as did the natural flow of people wanting to enter or upgrade within the housing market, Shepherd said.

Prices rose in 2024. The average residential detached house price increased six per cent year-over-year, to $423,878, in 2024.

In December 2020, the average detached home cost $342,289, according to WRREB data.

The real estate board pegged an average condo at $274,201 last year, up six per cent from 2023. Residential attached home prices increased 10 per cent, to an average $365,965.

“(It’s) a sellers’ market,” Shepherd said, citing low inventory.

The WRREB counted 22,858 listings last year. It’s a two per cent increase year-over-year and follows a slow rise in housing stock since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shepherd hopes the market will be “sustained” in 2025 if interest rates continue to be cut, predicting prices will remain consistent. Still, it’s unclear how Donald Trump’s incoming United States presidency will affect Canada’s economy and housing sector, she added.

Lower interest rates have been positive for apartment creation. Building structures becomes less expensive, said Giacomo Ladas, associate director of communications at Rentals.ca.

However, it takes years to build multifamily housing and Winnipeg is still tight for apartment units. As such, rent from new builds has increased five per cent year-over-year, a Rentals.ca and Urbanation report released Thursday shows.

Winnipeg’s purpose-built rental vacancy is 1.7 per cent, a fall Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. report highlights. The number falls below its 10-year average.

“Supply hasn’t really caught up in Winnipeg,” Ladas said. “Because of that, we expect that these rental prices are going to remain … where they are.”

Ontario and British Columbia have noted rent decreases. Residents are leaving major cities because of affordability; it’s not the case in Winnipeg, Ladas explained.

A one-bedroom in Winnipeg cost an average $1,416 monthly in December (up 5.6 per cent year-over-year). Renters paid an average $2,512 for a new one-bedroom listing in Vancouver in December, by comparison, according to Rentals.ca.

An average two-bedroom in Winnipeg last month cost $1,771 per month, up 3.5 per cent year-over-year.

Nationally, the rental market has softened. It’s led to more incentives like a month’s rent free, Ladas said. He believes lower interest rates — and more people buying homes — has contributed to the change.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com